R.C. Gorman

(1931 - 2005)

Rudolph Carl Gorman was a Native American painter and sculptor of the Navajo Nation. He was born in Chinle, Arizona in 1931. His father, Carl, was one of the original Navajo Code Talkers who helped the United States during World War II by developing an unbreakable code.
R.C. grew up in a traditional Navajo hogan and began drawing at the age of 3. His grandmother, who helped raise him, was the one to tell him all of the traditional Navajo stories and legends, including those of Navajo artists of the past who were so important in preserving Navajo tradition and culture.
As a painter, Gorman focused on landscapes, putting his subjects with their traditional Navajo patterns against a background featuring the vibrant colors of the Arizona landscape.

Much like R.C. Gorman, we’re going to paint a landscape with our subject in the foreground, but instead of a person, we’re going to make a bear! We’ll focus on our bear in this lesson, and we’ll tackle our landscape in the next one!